18/01/2024 Stati Uniti (United States-USA), New Mexico (NM)
“If you ever come across anything suspicious like this item, please do not pick it up, contact your local law and/or enforcement agency for assistance”.
Los Alamos County. BY MAIRE O’NEILL-maire@losalamosreporter.com
What started out as a “quick update” on Rendija Canyon by Los Alamos Community Development Department Director Paul Andrus during the November 28 County Council meeting ended up with a 55 minute discussion as Councilors expressed their desire to see the transfer of some 800 acres from the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) , which has been in the works since 1997, come to fruition. Councilor Randall Ryti had asked for the agenda item because he felt there had not been much progress on the issue. As explained to the Los Alamos Reporter in December 2020 by former County Manager Harry Burgess, back in 2002, the County entered into an agreement with NNSA regarding the cleanup and transfer of the land. The agreement laid out the guidelines to be followed because the legislation authorizing the transfer wasn’t very specific. Burgess said the agreement talked about Rendija being cleaned up to “residential” level for transfer. “In 2006, the community and Council was discussing Rendija and there were some concerns about having residences down there both from the point of view, as I understand it, of having the Sportsmen’s Club there, but also some of those on Barranca Mesa appreciated their views and didn’t want other houses in that canyon,” he said. “For whatever reasons, ultimately the Council at the time made the decision that they would go forward anticipating recreational uses only. That was never contractually altered. That has been stated to me by NNSA however we still have the black and white of the language of the agreement.” Burgess at that time said he had not had a single conversation about it turning into residential use. Also in December 2020, then Council Chair Sara Scott wrote to NNSA to say that the County “discussed other options for reuse with NNSA but that those options never included a restriction that does not permit the safe use of the land”. Scott’s letter said the County had “previously identified to NNSA unmitigated and inadequately addressed public health risks associated with the historic use of the property by the United States”. She said specifically, “the potential for and location of unexploded ordnance (UXO) within the property has not been satisfactorily evaluated”. “Rather than performing the proper evaluation of this risk, an obligation of NNSA prior to conveyance to the County, NNSA is attempting to impose a broad land use restriction involving ground disturbing activities which, if accepted, compromises our intended future use and poses a possible risk to our constituents,” Scott’s letter stated. “Further, your proposed language would impose on the County the cost and potential liability for any ground disturbing activities. Given the nature of UXO explosive risk, these are not appropriate responsibilities to be imposed on a municipal government.” Scott referred to an investigation of the property by the Army Corps of Engineers using then available technology to detect metallic objects on and below the surface area. “Although that technology was capable of detecting metallic objects at a depth of several feet below the surface, data in the Corps’ report was limited to what was detected a few inches below the surface. Whether this limited evaluation was an error in the drafting of the Corps’ scope of work or a failure on the part of the Corps in performance of its contractual obligation is unclear. However, for the County, this level of detection represents an unacceptable risk, and requires substantive corrective action, not merely a limitation on ground penetrating activities; the proposed land use restriction is an acknowledgment of the validity of our concerns,” the letter states. Scott said the intended County use and public access require confidence in the safety of the site. She said given the defect in the investigation and/or report and the potential risk, the statutorily required deed warranty condition clearly stating “…all action necessary to protect human health and the environment has been taken” had not been met. She said the County was prepared to accept the conveyance but not on the proposed terms. She wrote, “We look forward to and are prepared to accept the conveyance, but not on the proposed terms and stand ready to work together to identify an appropriate path forward.” Although the land transfer issue has been brought up during presentations by NNSA management at Council meetings and reportedly discussed at monthly meetings of County and DOE officials there has been little progress indicated. Councilors made it clear at their November 28 meeting that they are anxious to see things move ahead faster than they have done in the last three years. Andrus noted that a few years ago the Corps of Engineers was brought on by NNSA to do an unexploded ordnance (UXO) survey that resulted in a determination that deed restrictions for any future uses of the Rendija property. He said nothing more than 4” to 6” could be disturbed and that more than that depth on the site would require a clearance prior to ground disturbance, “which is a deal-breaker for the County in accepting any conveyance”. He said at the request of the County, NNSA went back to the Corp of Engineers to see if the deed restriction could be changed or eliminated and at that time it was essentially a negative response. “NNSA has shown an unwillingness to accept the risk associated with those deed restrictions,” Andrus said. He said since some of the conversations have been restarted, some questions have been posed by the County and NNSA. “Really the essence of this is coming to some kind of agreement on those deed restrictions. In the situation where we would acquire the entire area or some areas in Rendija Canyon, is there some additional research or surveying that can be done in the canyon that would give both sides a better idea of where those potential dangers might be. The idea here is that maybe some of the technology has changed to where somebody could get a better idea of what’s around that’s different to when the original survey was done,” Andrus said.
Photo-Source: losalamosreporter.com
For more information visit denix.osd.mil/uxo
If you find anything that appears to be an explosive device, do not touch it, leave it where it is and call the police. We will contact the appropriate agencies to properly dispose of the item.
Dear editors, Biography of a bomb is aimed at highlighting the danger caused by unexploded bombs. Moreover, the most important aspect is that we work completely non profit, what drives us is raising awerness about this topic. We make use of your pictures and articles, but we need them to put a context in how findings are done. We trust in your understanding. We will (and we always do) cite the source and the author. We thank you for your comprehension
